Here's The Pitch

Video screen at Wrigley would join long history of ballpark billboards

April 16, 2013|By Mark Jacob, Chicago Tribune reporter

The scoreboard at Wrigley Field including Budweiser ads in the 1980s. (Chicago Tribune)

The prospect of a giant video screen blasting ads at Wrigley Field fans may upset purists who fear that the simple beauty of one of America's most iconic ballparks is being despoiled. But baseball history shows that Chesterfield cigarettes and Hole-Proof Hosiery have been as much a part of America's ballparks as Babe Ruth and Ernie Banks. Here are some advertising facts about Wrigley and other parks.

What's new is old Before the Cubs moved to Clark and Addison in 1916, they played in front of a huge billboard at the West Side Grounds, where the Illinois Medical District stands today. The sign stretched from mid-center field across most of right field, bearing such messages as: "The Tribune always makes a hit with its sporting news." There was even a rooftop controversy back then: Bleachers were built atop apartment buildings on Taylor Street, and the Cubs raised the right-field wall to try to block their view.

Naming rights, circa 1926 In Wrigley's early days, billboards were installed on the scoreboard and outfield wall, according to "Wrigley Field: The Unauthorized Biography" by Stuart Shea, with George Castle. Even the ballpark's name was a marketing pitch: Cubs Park became Wrigley Field in 1926 upon the advice of ad guru Albert Lasker, who thought it would promote the team owner's chewing gum business. In a subtle form of advertising, two cartoon figures stood atop the pre-1937 scoreboard, one pitching and the other hitting. They were known as the Wrigley "stick men" — as in a stick of gum.

Free time The Cubs' 1937 scoreboard arrived without ads. And when a clock was added atop the scoreboard in 1941, it went unsponsored — in contrast to other major league ballparks that had the names of clockmakers like Longines, Elgin or Bulova atop their scoreboard timepieces.

'Subtle changes' There was no significant advertising inside Wrigley from the late '30s until the early '80s, when two beer ads were put under the scoreboard. They were removed a few years later, but advertising crept back in with a 2007 deal to let the Under Armour sports apparel company advertise on the outfield walls. At the time, Cubs official Jay Blunk told the Tribune's Paul Sullivan that "we try to make subtle changes that deliver high impact with regard to revenue and television exposure to sponsors, yet have low impact on the visual quality of Wrigley Field." But six years later, no one is using the phrases "subtle changes" or "low impact" about the new proposal.

White-out In 1912, when old Comiskey Park was new, a tobacco company's large white sign in straight center was making it hard for hitters to see the pitches coming at them. According to author James Elfers, White Sox manager Jimmy "Nixey" Callahan asked owner Charles Comiskey to remove the sign, and Comiskey said he would — but only if Callahan bought out the advertiser's contract. Callahan paid up to keep his players safe. Signage at Comiskey never approached the wall-to-wall level at some stadiums, especially those in New York City. But the Sox's commercially named U.S. Cellular Field is chock full of ads, and no one complains very much.

Going green At Fenway Park in Boston, the only major league stadium older than Wrigley, the Red Sox removed some advertising to make the place more special. In 1947 they took away garish left-field ads, including a Gem Razor sign imploring fans to "Avoid 5 O'Clock Shadow." In their place, the Red Sox left simple green paint, creating one of the most admired stadium features in America, the Green Monster.

Booze and cheers A signature element of the Brooklyn Dodgers' Ebbets Field was a large Schaefer beer sign, on which the H and an E lit up to indicate "hit" or "error." The official scorer got a free case of Schaefer beer each week for hitting the controls in the press box to activate the letters.

Historical signposts Ads have been part of some of baseball's big moments. A memorable Jimmie Foxx home run sailed over the Lux Soap sign at Cleveland's League Park in 1936. Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood slammed into the Alpo Dog Food sign as he made one of his greatest catches at Philadelphia's Connie Mack Stadium in 1964. When Mark McGwire was with the A's in 1997, he smashed a 485-foot home run at Cleveland's Jacobs Field that hit the Budweiser sign between the E and the I.

Dirty trick At Philadelphia's Baker Bowl in the early 20th century, a soap company's billboard read "The Phillies use Lifebuoy." To which a graffiti artist once added: "But they still stink."

Human billboard? In the 1970s, Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner wanted to give pitcher Andy Messersmith the number 17, nickname him "Channel" and put that name on his uniform. Not coincidentally, Turner's cable TV superstation was Channel 17. National League President Chub Feeney said no way.

SOURCES: "Wrigley Field: The Unauthorized Biography" by Stuart Shea, with George Castle; "Cubs Journal" by John Snyder; "The Tour to End All Tours" by James Elfers; "Philadelphia Phillies Past & Present" by Rich Westcott; "The Greatest Ballpark Ever: Ebbets Field and the Story of the Brooklyn Dodgers" by Bob McGee; "Going, Going ... Caught!" by Jason Aronoff; "The Pitch: Baseball and Advertising in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries" by Roberta Newman.